


Sea Change

by thetreesgrowodd



Category: Little Mermaid (1989)
Genre: Castrati, Community: disney_kink, Gender Issues, M/M, Transgender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-16
Updated: 2011-06-16
Packaged: 2017-10-20 11:51:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/212508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetreesgrowodd/pseuds/thetreesgrowodd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Young Prince Eric's best friend is Ariel, the boy prodigy singer. But Ariel has secrets and is willing to go to great lengths to preserve his singing voice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sea Change

Young Prince Eric was forced to attend all of the royal banquets, but sitting still for hours listening to the adults' conversation bored him. Even the entertainers who performed before the meal bored him. He was too privileged to really appreciate that it was some of the finest entertainment available, and that most of his father's subjects would never see or hear anything like it.

But that changed when he heard the small boy with the bright red hair sing.

Eric sat, mesmerized, by the boy who had come with the troupe of singers and dancers. Adults whispered that he was a marvel, a true child prodigy. Eric caught the boy's name in their whispers. Ariel.

Ariel found Eric, or Eric found him, after the main course. They just looked up and met each other's eyes and knew, in the easy way of children, that they'd found a friend. Ariel was not only held in high esteem for his singing abilities but his family was also respected and fairly well-to-do and had been invited to stay and dine. The grownups were at the most boring part, where they'd sit and get served a lot of beverages and pick at slices of cake for hours and hours while they spoke and debated, sometimes one getting up to take the stage, sometimes groups or even just heated discussions around the table. It was the perfect time to escape.

Eric and Ariel, the only two children there, slipped out of the banquet hall and into the living chambers of the palace. They played hide and seek and laughed together, playing and running and hiding among the priceless treasures and furniture. Eric took so long finding him once that Ariel dozed off. Eric sat by his sleeping friend, hiding behind a chair, and leaned into the cushions yawning. It was late, maybe later than Eric had ever been up.

The distant sound of droning voices from the banquet hall changed. Guests were heading toward the exit in small groups, servants getting their coats. Someone from Ariel's group came looking for him then, accompanied by one of the Royal servants. As Eric was ushered up to his own room, he looked back over his shoulder to see the sleepy-eyed Ariel being wrapped in a coat and lead out, looking longingly at Eric.

But they would see each other again. Eric requested Ariel whenever there was need for entertainers to come. They didn't see each other often, but it was always special when they did.

 

When they were a little older, Eric even got permission to go see Ariel perform in his own hometown. The prince and his guards went dressed as wealthy commoners, to fit in. They saw Ariel backstage beforehand, smiling at Eric and laughing and breathless, chatting even as someone applied thick stage makeup.

The performance was amazing. Ariel had gone from being a featured member of a troupe to the star of the show, the others being no more than background singers and dancers. The show had a theme but no strict plot, and Ariel was an angel, a leaf on the wind, a star in the heavens.

After, Ariel changed into plain clothes with a scarf over his distinctive red hair and they walked around town in anonymity, Eric's guards trailing behind. It was evening and there was a light rain falling, but it didn't bother them because there were no parents to tell them to come in out of it. There were fascinating booths and shops. Eric bought some food at a booth with money his father had given him for the trip — everything was fried and served wrapped in paper or skewered on a stick, too greasy or salty or sweet, but amazing. He'd eaten so much his stomach hurt a little and he discovered that the boots they'd found for him leaked a bit, but no discomfort bothered him, not with Ariel wide eyed and rapt at his side.

One booth was selling toys. Eric bought a set of toy soldiers for himself. Ariel was absolutely fascinated by a clockwork toy that the vendor showed him how to wind up. It consisted of a round glass bowl with metal fish that swam round and round, seaweed that waved, and a clamshell that opened and closed. It was expensive, and Ariel's parents never gave him much pocket money, so Eric gladly bought it for him.

They returned to Ariel's house, where his parents and servants went into an unnecessary tizzy to please the prince. Eric and Ariel, still too full from the junk food they'd eaten, faked their way through a very fine meal.

Afterward, it was late, and Ariel's parents sent him to bed and showed Eric to a guest room. Eric turned out the lights and waited for ten minutes to tick by on his gold fob watch before sneaking out, a blanket over his shoulders, to find Ariel's room.

Ariel wasn't surprised at all to see Eric. He lit a candle and showed Eric his room. Eric saw his gift to Ariel, the clockwork fishbowl, had been put in a place of honor, and when he saw the rest of the room he understood Ariel's fascination with it.

His window looked out at the ocean, but with Ariel's collection it was as if the sea had already come inside. Shells, miniature ships, sextants and old maps, paintings of seascapes, books of nautical lore. Nearly lost among it all were a painting of Eric's castle by the sea, and a small portrait of Eric himself, looking a few years younger and quite more serious than he did in person, as was the accepted style of royal paintings. There was also a large statue of a mermaid, whose bare breasts made Eric blush and look away, then look back again, repeatedly.

There in the dark, wrapped in Eric's blanket, Ariel spoke about old legends about undersea kingdoms and people. Eric had been taught a lot of history and other practical things, but he had rarely heard these kinds of tales. Merfolk with enchanted, carefree lives, lives more joyous than even a prince on dry land could hope for. Although when he was with Ariel, sometimes he felt that way. In the dark room, the blues and greens of the sea glowed and rippled around Eric until he thought he could swim up through the ceiling. The sound of rain on the roof was really the sound of bubbles and waves far above.

"You'll be king someday," Ariel sighed near dawn, knowing they would be parted.

It was true. Eric was getting to an age where he was starting to feel the pressure to grow into his responsibilities, marry and carry on the family line. Sometimes it felt very far off, sometimes it felt like it was right around the corner.

"Don't worry. When I am, I'll have you come and sing for me. At all my events, all the holidays, all the weddings. When I am king I can invent new holidays, just to have an excuse to have you come and sing for me." He thought that would make Ariel happy, but instead his friend just grew silent. When Eric pressed him to reply, Ariel said he wanted to go to sleep.

 

Eric took a variety of lessons on topics that were thought fitting for a gentle young prince. Music was one of them, although Eric knew he wasn't particularly good at it, he enjoyed it. It burned off some of his extra emotion and energy. His music tutor seemed to understand this and didn't interrupt Eric or correct his technique too often.

One day Eric overheard his music teacher talking about Ariel with another nobleman. It was glowing praise. Half-guilty at eavesdropping, Eric stood out of sight and listened to it. Then his teacher made a comment that greatly puzzled Eric.

"What a shame that boy with lose his voice."

What a ridiculous comment! How could someone lose their voice? Did it wear out from overuse? Surely there was no limit on how much a person could use their voice in a lifetime — if there were, then Eric's long-winded father would have lost his years ago! How else would one lose something like that? He tried to imagine a thief sneaking in while Ariel slept and stealing his voice.

Even if Ariel were mute, the two of them would still be fast friends. It wouldn't change things between them — Eric had no doubt of that. But they would both be sad at the loss, and Eric couldn't stand the thought of Ariel mourning for his lost voice.

 

Eric got his answer one day when his music lesson involved a very old piece of sheet music that had a note on it about _castrati_. Eric asked what it meant, and the embarrassed tutor explained it gently and awkwardly.

"You remember when your voice began to deepen?"

"Yes, of course."

"A _castrato_ is one who has undergone a... procedure to prevent that change, in order to preserve his high, clear singing voice."

A light dawned for Eric. "Then that is how Ariel can avoid losing his singing voice!"

The tutor looked troubled. "No, lad, the procedure has all but fallen out of practice. In fact, there are laws against it in many kingdoms. It is considered cruel and barbaric. All too often, young boys were pressured into it without the maturity to understand what they would be sacrificing."

"Sacrificing?"

The tutor smiled in a fatherly way. "You were excited when you began needing to shave, weren't you? And growing hair on your chest, and getting those strong muscles?"

Eric nodded, remembering the recent changes. Ariel, a few years his junior, hadn't gone through them yet.

"Well, a _castrato_ wouldn't have those male features, the things you value, that make you a man. He would be more like —"

"A woman?"

The tutor shook his head. "An overgrown boy, perhaps."

Eric tried to picture it. Maybe it brought an odd expression to his face, because his tutor patted his hand comfortingly. "Now, don't worry any more about your friend Ariel. Even if he can't make his way as a singer after his voice deepens, his family is more than able to provide comfortably for him. And you two will remain friends, will you not?"

"Yes. Of course we will."

 

A few months later, Eric's father arranged for him to sail to an allied kingdom far to the north, and stay there for a year. The king said that Eric would be there to study, but Eric knew that he was expected to choose one of the princesses of that land for marriage. His future, his adulthood, was coming quickly now, and Eric found himself ready to meet it. He wanted to see and learn about another country, he wanted to help ensure the peace between them, and he wanted to experience life at sea and prove himself a worthy seaman.

And he would not be alone at sea. As an unexpected surprise, Ariel, along with his uncle as a chaperone, would be on the same ship for most of the voyage. Their destination was a port town, not far from the kingdom Eric was going to.

Eric was given the only real cabin. It was tall enough to stand up in — even for Eric who had grown quite a bit lately — even if it was narrow enough that Eric could touch both walls at once if he stretched. It had two bunks, though, so he invited Ariel to stay with him, rather than the tiny private bunk he had been assigned to. There were no other passengers, aside from their chaperones and crew.

Eric fought seasickness for the first few days. Ariel sat by him and read to him or sang. But Eric was determined to not be the weak prince, unable to take life at sea, and was up on the deck by the third day. There was a mutter among the rough sailors about Ariel being his maid servant, or his wife, but Eric held his head high and ignored it. So what if Ariel was still very boyish — perhaps even feminine — in appearance?

Ariel didn't seem bothered by their comments. Being at sea agreed with him. He was the most vibrant than Eric had ever seen him. The sailor's jokes and comments stopped after a few days, as Eric won them over by getting to know them and helping out around the ship.

At night, if the weather allowed, they'd all sing on deck, the kinds of songs sailors sang — crude songs from pubs, drinking songs with a beat you could clap and stomp your feet to, and there was nothing like the feeling of all of them belting a song out and stomping along until the deck shook.

One had bawdy lyrics about 'sea-wives' and comfort during long months at sea. Ariel asked if they were creatures like mermaids, and the sailors roared with laughter. But they had come to like the boy and their laughter wasn't cruel.

"No, lad, though I wish they were!" one of them cried. "'Sea-wives' — they're like Fred'rick here, after enough rum—"

"A lot of rum in 'is case!"

"—and in the pitch black!" He laughed, hanging heavily on Frederick's neck, who gave him a lewd kiss. The deck exploded with laughter. Even Ariel laughed, his face red and hands hiding his mouth.

But there were other types of songs particular to sailors, ballads that contained their own sea-myths and embellished histories, full of superstitions and death. All about the sea, mermaids and sirens, sea kings, pirates, doomed sailors. Cautionary tales. One's soul being punished eternally as a result of one poor choice or moment of greed. They were haunting and Eric had never both liked and disliked anything at once so much before. They were like a bitterly dark, morbid version of the tales Ariel had told him in his room that rainy night.

And Ariel amazed the men by singing his own harmony along with these slow, mournful songs, even though he had never heard the tunes before. The emotions the songs carried were intensified. The rough men's eyes grew wide and watery in their weathered faces.

 

After one such night, Eric and Ariel retired to Eric's cabin. Ariel kissed him, sweet and soft and with a surprising boldness. They'd both had a bit of wine that night, but Ariel's lips on Eric's made his head spin even more than the alcohol had. He very nearly just relaxed and let Ariel do whatever he wanted — but realized that just because it felt good, didn't mean it was right. He put his hands on Ariel's shoulders and gently pressed him back. Ariel separated from him as if burned.

Eric began, "What are you —"

"Like they said tonight —"

"What? That sea-wife nonsense?!"

Ariel wilted. "Isn't that why you invited me into your cabin?"

"What?!" Eric raked his hands through his hair. "No!"

"When they talked about that, and I went over the song lyrics in my mind, I thought that must have been why you wanted me —"

"No! No," Eric said, trying to calm down. "I —" his voice broke and he cleared his throat. "I invited you to share my cabin because we're friends."

"Isn't this what 'friends' do at sea?" Ariel asked with a spirited stomp of his foot.

"No! Maybe! I mean, if they're at sea for long enough — but we're not!"

"We've been friends long enough though, haven't we?"

With a panic, Eric realized that he'd been ignoring hints from Ariel for years now. He'd never let himself wonder if Ariel was in love with him. He'd never let himself wonder about Ariel's odd yearnings. But the other sailors had picked up on something about him — that was why they had teased him. With a rush of embarrassment, he wondered if they thought he was sexually involved with Ariel. What would rumors of that sort do to his reputation?

"Well — I'm going to be married soon." Eric's words fell heavily.

"You're getting married?" Ariel asked, balling up the hem of his tunic in both fists.

"Yes. That's the real reason I'm going abroad."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Eric drew himself up to his full height. After years of hearing his father cut quickly and sometimes cruelly to the heart of a matter, Eric knew exactly how to do it. "It's not your business. It should have nothing to do with you. If you think otherwise, it's only because you've been living with some kind of pathetic delusion about our relationship."

Ariel stormed out of the cabin then.

 

After several awkward days of avoiding each other, they patched things up, blaming the alcohol and craziness of life at sea. But their relationship never really recovered.

When Ariel and his uncle got off at their port, Eric and Ariel said a deliberately casual goodbye. As the ship pulled away, Eric felt a pang of loss at their parting. He realized he'd been so wrapped up in himself, he'd never even found out what Ariel had traveled so far from home for.

 

Eric, indeed, got engaged to a foreign princess during his year abroad. Vanessa was a nice enough girl, and she and Eric found they had some common interests to talk about — history, literature. She secretly had a wicked sense of humor as well, and taught him how to swear in several languages. In return, he taught her some of the crude sailor's songs. They laughed for a long time.

Eric didn't love her, but he thought that if they could laugh together, that was enough. Royals often had to settle for mates with far less of a relationship than that. Also, she was not a clingy girl. She spent a lot of time with her girlfriends and didn't need Eric to be around all the time, so they would be able to have independent lives from one another. It seemed like a good enough match.

For political reasons, the wedding ceremony was held in her country. Only Eric's own family had made the trip to attend it. They would return to Eric's kingdom in a few months and have a second ceremony there, and Eric planned to have Ariel sing at it, like they had promised long ago.

So he was quite surprised to hear someone who sounded just like Ariel singing, during his first dance with his new wife. He had to finish the dance to be proper, although it was hard. He kept looking around to locate the singer, but couldn't get a good look through the wall of people watching the dance. When it was over, and Vanessa danced the traditional dance with her elder brother, Eric escaped to watch the singer, stunned.

"No one should outshine the bride at her wedding," Vanessa's mother huffed nearby, and Eric could see why. The woman singing on stage was stunning. But Eric was even more stunned by the fact that this beautiful woman both looked and sounded like Ariel. It was true that Ariel had sometimes worn gaudy costumes as part of his musical acts, but he had never dressed like a woman before. But there was no mistaking that this person was his old, dear friend, even if his senses could no longer let him consider Ariel male. He tried not to let anyone see him staring, but he couldn't take his eyes away.

When the singers took a break and another group took the stage, Eric went up to her, trying to act casual.

"Ariel—?"

"Eric." Ariel's eyes were sad above her smile. "Congratulations on your wedding." She curtsied very formally.

"How... I'm not sure... this is..."

Ariel smiled at him. Thankfully the crowd and noise were enough to keep anyone from really noticing them. Eric just hoped it would appear that he was thanking the singer, and not that he was making eyes at another woman on his wedding day. For this certainly was a woman.

"I had a procedure done to preserve my voice," Ariel said. "Afterward, I decided to make some changes to my appearance."

"Were you always... you couldn't have been... female?" Eric asked, stunned.

"I was a boy, in body." Ariel looked slightly embarrassed. "I always wanted this," she gestured vaguely at herself. "I've always been — I always will be — divided between two worlds."

Eric gaped at her. She was stunningly gorgeous, and the idea of his — her — body excited Eric with ideas he'd never let himself have before. But it was too late. The groomsmen came to collect him, and whisked him off to his wedding night.

Ariel raised a hand in farewell. Eric, being tugged away, could only do the same and watch her slip from between his fingers.


End file.
